The Core of Hate

Monday, July 17, 2006: Kiryat shmona -- Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position firing into civilians inside Lebanon (Photo: Shamarat.net)

An American friend has passed along a link to some extremely graphic images of the damage done against civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon. While the images are indeed disturbing, I found these two to be particularly unsettling because they demonstrate an early indoctrination of hate and disregard for human equality. It's also quite shocking that these young girls are not frightened to be next to such powerful devices of destruction -- obviously military equipment is not an enigma for them and that says quite a lot on its own.

There has been much in the Western press about how the Israelis condemn Palestinian school text books that carry anti-Israel messages, but surely no one believed that this was a one-sided game. Should we be afraid of these girls? Will they be even more hateful and ruthless than their parents? It seems likely now.